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mrsir2009

macrumors 604
Original poster
Sep 17, 2009
7,505
156
Melbourne, Australia
Hey guys... You know how when your calling someone on your iPhone, how the screen goes black when you hold it to your ear, then the screen comes back on when you take it away from your ear. How does it sense that? The phone doesn't even have to touch your cheek... I'm guessing either the front camera or the ambient light sensor?
 
Hey guys... You know how when your calling someone on your iPhone, how the screen goes black when you hold it to your ear, then the screen comes back on when you take it away from your ear. How does it sense that? The phone doesn't even have to touch your cheek... I'm guessing either the front camera or the ambient light sensor?

Umm really?! Haven't heard of the proximity sensor right above the ear piece?
 
Firstly the proximity sensor is what senses when it gets closer to your ear and its located right here:

111994-iphonesensors.jpg
 
If you ever take a video of your iphone when it's on a call, (depending on the camera you use) you can see the infra red light being emitted by the proximity sensor.

This is why "Raise to speak" on Siri flattens your battery because the IR is being emitted all the time when the phone is awake.
 
Firstly the proximity sensor is what senses when it gets closer to your ear and its located right here:

View attachment 323133

Oh, so its two sensors... Thanks you! :)

Well that's how it was on the old iPhone. The new ones are like below. The black strip are the sensors.

Ever seen a white iPhone 4/S?

iphone4s-white-proximity-sensor.png


Hard to see on a black iPhone but you can under extreme lighting and at a certain angle.

You can see it on the black iPhone in direct sunlight.
images
 
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